Malt eotjse



. 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. W. H. PRINZ.

(No Model.) I

MALT HOUSE.

Patented Nov. 12,1895.

AN DREW BERANAM. PHOTO-1N0. WASNINGTDNJIC.

w M d l.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

W. H. PRINZ.

MALT Housn.

" No. 549,856. Patented Nov. 12, 1895.

' wane/97865? 21/7/6171??? gw WM akl- 6 ANDREW H.6RAHAM. PHGTGUTHQWASHIN GTONJIC NITED STATES T ATENT FFIcE.

\VILLIAM I-I. PRINZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THESALADINPNEUMATIC MALTING CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MALT-HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,856, dated November12, 1895. Application filed September 25,1894. Serial No. 524,110. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that LWILLIAM H. PRINZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illi nois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Malt-Houses; and I dohere by declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a novel construction and arrangement in amalt-house, designed especially for use in connection with what is knownas the Saladin system of pneumatic malting.

The objects of the invention are to simplify the construction of themalt-house, and consequently reduce the cost of the building, and toprovide a novel arrangement in the air-channels, air attemperator andmoistener, and in the devices for controlling the aircurrents, wherebythe construction of the house is simplified and cheapened, theaircurrents can be more easily regulated and controlled, and the cost ofrunning the malthouse is reduced.

To these and other useful ends my invention consists in the features ofconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described andspecifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is ahorizontal sectional View of a malt-house constructed in accordance withmy invention and taken on the line 1 1 of Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa vertical transverse section taken on the line 3 3 of Figs. 1 and 2.Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section similar to Fig. 3 andillustrating the construction in a malt-house of this description wheretwo floors of germinating-compartments are employed.

In a malt-house constructed in accordance with my invention the freshand foul air shafts, tunnels, and the air attemperators and moistenersare placed above the floor on which the germinating-compartments arelocated and the air is drawnvin, forced downwardly, and then drawnupwardly and discharged or reused, as found most convenient, instead ofthe manner now in general use in malt-houses of this construction,wherein the extending transversely across the story and r constructed inthe usual manner with perforated bottoms 9, malt-stirring machine 10,and walks 11.

In the front of the compartments and between the end of the compartmentand the front wall 2 of the malt-house is the walk or platform 12,having the trap-door 13, leading to thelconveyer 14, to remove the malt.Beneath each compartment and between its perforated bottom and the floor15 of the lower story is an air-tunnellG, closed at its forward end, butcommunicating at its rear end with an upright air-shaft 17, leading tothe foulair tunnel 18 in the upper story 5. Communication between theair-tunnel16 and airshaft 17 is controlled by a valve, (one for eachcompartment,) indicated by 19, said valve sliding in vertical guides andprovided with upright racks 20, that extend above the rear end of thecompartment and that are engaged by gear-wheels 21, upon a shaft 22,which can be turned by a crank 23. In this way it will be seen that byturning the crank to elevate these valves communication between theairtunnels and shaft 17 can be established. The air-shaft 17 is formedby an upright wall 24, extending between the floors 7 and 15 andprovided with openings 25 along its lower edge, opposite the air-tunnels16. The said supplemental wall 21 extends between the ends of themalt-house and meets the floor 7, which does not extend farther thansaid supplemental wall, so as to provide an opening at the top of theair-shaft 17.

The upper story 5 is divided into three compartments-namely, the foulair compartment 18,the fresh-air compartment 26, andthe IOO airattemperating and moistcning eompartment 27. The foul and fresh aircompartments are divided by a partition 28, extending between the endwalls of the malt-house, while the fresh-air compartment 26 is dividedfrom the air attemperating and moistening compartment 27 by two walls 29and 30, extending between the end walls of the malt-house, but notbetween the ceiling 31 of the upper story and the floor 7, so as toestablish communication between the fresh-air compartment 26 andattemperating and moistening compartment 27. Said wall 29 extends fromthe ceiling 31 to a point near the floor 7, while the partition 30extends from the floor 7 to the ceiling 31, but is provided at its upperend with openings 32, extending its entire length. The partitions 29 and80 are parallel and a little distance apart, so that a coil ofsteampipes may be located between them to warm the air as it passes tothe attemperatin and moistening compartment.

Within the compartment 27 are arranged a plurality of upright perforatedor reticulated plates or sheets 34, extending between the end walls 3and 4 and the ceiling 31 and floor 7. These plates 34 are parallel andlocated a suflicient distance apart to allow a person to pass betweenthem, and the inner end wall 4 of the malt-house is provided with doors35 between each pair of plates, and also doors 36 outside of the platesto permit attendants to enter the compartments made thereby for cleaningthe plates and other parts of the malt-house. Between these plates 34and near the floor 7 are the waterpipes 37, provided on their uppersides with suitable spray-nozzles, arranged to spray water upon theplates, and these pipes 37 are connected with a suitable source forsupplying water under pressure, such as the pump 3S,by means of thebranches 39 and 40, controlled by valves 41. The pipe 37 between thelast two plates 34, or those nearest to the front wall 2 of themalt-house, is provided with a separate supply-pipe 42, so that if it isfound convenient to re-use the water over some of the plates it can beaccomplished, and at the same time fresh water can be supplied to thelast two plates to accomplish the washing of the air. The floor 7between the plates 34 is provided with gutters or troughs 43, into whichwater runs down over the plates and passages, and these gutters ortroughs 43 are inclined downwardly toward the inner wall 4 to lead thewater to the bath or tank 44. From this tank 44 a pipe 45 leads, havingbranches 46 that can lead to the pump, or a branch 47 that can lead tothe wastepipe, whereby the water can be forced back or allowed toescape. In the floor 7 between the last plate 34 and the front wall 2 ofthe malt-house a plurality of openings 48 are located, having suitablegratings to establish communication with the malting-room.

Parallel with the inner wall 4 of the malthouse and a convenientdistance therefrom is an upright wall 49, extending usually somedistance above the malt-house and forming part of the other buildings ofthe plant. lietween this wall 49 and the wall 4 is a partition 50 todivide off the room in which the tank 44 and water-forcing devices arelocated, and the said partition 50 is located about opposite thepartitions 29and 30. "3etween the walls 49 and 4 and about opposite thepartition 28 is a partition 51, extendin upwardly to about the height ofthe ceiling 31, and dividing such space into the foul-air shaft 52 andthe fresh-air shaft 53, located at the ends of the fresh and foul aircompartments 26 and 18.

Openings 54, having slats 55, are made in the wall 3 to establishcommunication between the shafts 52 and 53 and compartments 26 and 1.8.The said fresh and foul air shafts 52 and 58 join at their upper endsinto an air-stack or chimney 56, extending above the malthouse andprovided with slatted openings 57 and 58, located above the fresh andfoul air shafts 53 and 52. Located within the chimney oil and pivotedbetween the said fresh and foul air shafts 52 and 53 is a valve 59,which,when standing in an upright position, reaches from the upper endof the partition 21 to the top of the chimney and divides said chimneyinto two shafts. The said valve 59 can be provided with any suitabledevices for regulating its position--such as, for instance, to controlit automatically by weights. Located within the foul-air shaft is anairforcing device (50 for drawing the air from the foul-air compartment18 and establishing a current.

A malt-house constructed in the foregoin manner will be operated asfollows: If the valve 59 stands in an upright position, as shown in fulllines in Fig. 2, and the air-forcing device 60 is started, air will bedrawn from the compartment 18 and create a current drawing in the airfrom the outside through the slatted opening 57 of the chimney, downthrough the fresh-air shaft 52, and into the fresh-air compartment 26.It then passes between the partitions 29 and 30 into the compartment 27,being heated during such passage,if necessary. The air then passes throngh the attemperators upon which the water is spraying and then downthrough the openin gs 48 into the compartment-room, and then downthrough the malt in the compartments to the tunnels 16, out through theopening 25 into the air-shaft 17, and then up into the foul-aircompartment 18, into the foul-air shaft 53, and then up and into theouter air through the opening 58 in the chimney. The above is the directcurrent of air when fresh air only is supplied, but it is foundexpedient and economical to reuse the air after it has passed throughthe malt, and this I aceomplish by setting the valve 59 across thechimney. It will be understood, also, that all of the foul air can beused over again or only a part mixed with fresh air, according to thedegree of economy desired,as the airis washed and cleansed in passingthrough the attemperators. The advantage in reusing the air wholly oronly partially is that it saves to a great extent the heat requisite tobring the air to the correct temperature in winter and the refrigerationnecessary fora like purpose in summer, which of course requires anexpense. I have found that by setting the valve 59 in an inclinedposition, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, a portion of the foul airleaving the shaft 53 will pass upwardly and through the opening 58,while the rest will be deflected into the shaft 52 and pass, with asupply of fresh air entering between the lower end of the valve and theside of the chimney, into the fresh-air compartment 26, the amount offoul air returned being proportionate to the inclination of the valve.In this way it will be seen that this foul air, being mixed with thefresh air and having a higher or lower temperature, according to theseason,

will raise or lower the temperature of the fresh. air, so as to requireless expenditure of energy than would be required if the entire supplyof the malt-house were fresh air, while the foul air is thoroughlycleansed and washed in passing through the attemperators. It will benoted, therefore, that the air used has a straight course, first down tothe tunnel 16 and then up, while in the malt-houses built according tothis system, as now constructed, the air is first forced downwardlythrough the moistener and attemperator, then upwardly into the tunnelsbeneath the compartment, and up through the malt into the malting-roomis then drawn downwardly again through openings in the floor of themalting-room into tunnels from which it is forced upwardly into theouter air. I am therefore enabled to control and force the same amountof air with much less expenditure of energy, which is consequently lessexpensive, as it does not require the samecapacity of air-forcingdevices and furthermore I materially simplifythe construction of themalt-house by obviating the necessity of a cellar below thecompartment-room, which cellar, of course, has to be built with firmfoundations to form the tunnels which must be cemented, and I thus againreduce the cost of a malt-house by placing all my air-shafts, tunnels,and moisteners, attemperators, and forcing devices above the floor ofthe compartment-room. Again the maltster can always find the exactcondition of the air-that is to say, its temperature and humidity-fromthe compartment-room itself, thus obviating the necessity of going downstairs and into the tunnels. Further, there can be absolutely no foulodors or vitiated air in the compartment-room, as heretofore, whentheair first passes through the malt and then into the compartment-room,for in a house of this construction the fresh and clean air comesdirectly into the compartment-room and then through the malt, afterwhich it is carried away.

An air attemperator and moistener constructed and shown as I havedescribed is also an improvement and possesses advantages over thoseheretofore employed, for, in the first place, there are walks betweeneach plate and the supply of water can be separately cut off between anypair of plates, so that an attendant can clean any particular platewithout interfering with the operation of the attemperator or causing acessation of the malting operation. Again, the water which is sprayedupon the plates can be reused by carrying it from the bath and the tank44 back through the spray-pipes, except, of course, on the last twoplates,where fresh water is desired, so that the air will be surelywashed and cleaned before passing into the malt. By reusing the waterupon some of the plates it will be noted that so much energy will not berequired to bring it to the correct temperature as when fresh water isused, and to have this water that is reused brought to the correcttemperature the steampipe forming part of the coil to bring the air tothe correct temperature is passed through the bath or tank 4 f, asbefore referred to.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a malt-house where there are twocompartment-floors. In a malthouse of this construction the openingleading from the compartment 27 is divided into two parts 61 and 62, theformer leading directly into the upper floor, while the lattercommunicates through a shaft 63 with the lower floor. Of course theair-shaft 17 passes by both floors in the same manner as heretoforedescribed, and the openings 25 are controlled by similar valves, asdescribed. The fresh-air supply and foul-air outlet and ac companyin gparts are similarly constructed. It will therefore be seen that I amenabled to build a malt-house with two compartmentfioors in a simple andinexpensive manner and without heavy and expensive walls for thetunnels, as heretofore necessary.

I find that a malt-house constructed in the manner above set forth isless expensive, because by placing the attemperators above the maltingcompartment-rooms I am enabled to make them of lighter, and consequentlyless expensive structure, for heretofore when placed below thecompartment-room they necessarily were builtstrong enough to support thegreat weight of the malt-house, and the heavy masonry and cement walkand airtunnels were expensive. In a malt-house of this construction,therefore, the heavy part of the structure rests upon the ground and theattemperators, which can be made of light material, rest upon this heavystructure, thus combining in a malt-house the best structure and mostdesirable features. By placing the attemperators at the top of themalt-house, I

am further enabled to take the fresh air in at quite an elevation fromthe ground and thus insure its purity.

I claim as my invention-- 1. I11 a malt house, a malting compartmentroom provided with malting compartments having perforated bottoms andair tunnels below said perforated bottoms, a foul air compart-mentlocated above said malting compartment room and communicating with saidair tunnels and having an outlet, a fresh air compartment located abovesaid malting compartment room and having an inlet, an air attemperatingand moistening compartment located above said malting compartment roomand communicating with said fresh air compartment and with said maltingcompartn1 ent room, and devices for creating a current of air throughsaid compartments, room and tunnels, substantially as described.

2. In a malt house, a maltingcompartment room provided with maltingcompartments having perforated bottoms, under each of which is locatedan air tunnel provided at its end with a valve, a foul air compartmentlocated above said malting compartment room, an air shaft communicatingat its upper end with said foul air compartment and at its lower endwith said air tunnels, an outlet for said foul air compartment, and afresh air compartmentlocated above said malting compartment room andhaving an inlet, an air attemperating and moistening compartment locatedabove said malting compartment room and communicating with said freshair compartment and with said malting compartment room, and devices forcreating a current of air through said compartments, room, tunnels andshaft, substantially as described.

3. In a malt house, a malting compartment room provided with maltingcompartments having perforated bottoms, under each of which is locatedan air tunnel, a foul air compartment located above said maltingcompartment room and communicating with said air tunnels and with achimney having an outlet, a fresh air compartment located above saidmalting compartment room and communicating with said chimney, an inletin said chimney, a valve in said chimney pivoted between said inlet andoutlet, an air attemperating and moistening compartment located abovesaid malting compartment room and communicating with said fresh air compartment and with said maltin g compartmeilt room, and devices forcreating a current of air through said compartments, room and tunnels,substantially as described.

4. In a malt house, a malting compartment room provided with maltingcompartments having perforated bottoms, under each of which is locatedan air tunnel, a foul, air compartment located above said maltingcompartment room and communicating with said air tunnels and having anoutlet, a fresh air compartmentlocated above said maltin g compartmentroom and having an inlet, an air attemperating and moist-eningcompartment located above said maltin compartment room and communicatingwith said fresh air compartment, openings in the floor of said airattemperating and moistening compartment establishin connnnnicationbetween the latter and said maltin g compartment room, and devices forcreating a current of air through said compartments, room and tunnels,sub stantially as described.

5. In. a malt house, a plurality of malting compartment rooms locatedone above the other, malting compartments located within said maltingcompartment rooms and having perforated bottoms, under each of which islocated an air tunnel, a foulaircompartment located above the upper ofsaid maltin g compartment rooms and communicating with each of said airtunnels, a valve controlling the communication between said air tunnelsand foul air compartment, an outlet for said foul air compartment, afresh air compartment located above the upper of said maltingcompartment rooms and having an inlet, an air attemperating andmoistcning compartment located above the upper of said maltingcompartment rooms and communicating with said fresh air compartment,passages leading from said air attemperating and moistening compartmentto each of said malting compartment rooms, and devices for creatingcurrents of air through said compartments, rooms and tunnels,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM II. PRINZ.

\Vitncsses HARRY Conn KENNEDY, RUDOLPH WM. Low.

